Woman with seven sons

Antonio Ciseri's Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabees (1863), depicting the woman with her dead sons.

The woman with seven sons was a Jewish martyr described in 2 Maccabees 7. She and her seven sons were arrested during the persecution of Judaism initiated by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. They were ordered to consume pork and thus violate Jewish law as part of the campaign. They repeatedly refused, and Antiochus tortured and killed the sons one by one in front of the unflinching and stout-hearted mother before eventually killing her as well.

The historical setting of the story is around the beginning of the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV (c. 167/166 BCE) that led to the Maccabean Revolt.[1] Although unnamed in 2 Maccabees, the mother is known variously as Hannah,[2] Miriam,[3] Solomonia,[4] and Shmouni.[5]

Other versions of the story appear in Jewish sources such as the Talmud and Josippon.

  1. ^ "15. Hellenism and Persecution: Antiochus IV and the Jews", The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism, De Gruyter, pp. 333–358, 2016-09-12, doi:10.1515/9783110375558-018, ISBN 978-3-11-037555-8, retrieved 2023-12-15
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference JVL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ilan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Orthodox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Synek, Eva; Murre-van den Berg, Heleen (2007). "Chapter 12: Syriac Christianity; Chapter 21: Eastern Christian Hagiographical Traditions, Oriental Orthodox: Syriac Hagiography". In Perry, Kenneth (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Book Publishers. pp. 266, 444–445. ISBN 9780631234234.

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